Talking Politics With Mom – Details, episodes & analysis

There IS a threat to women and girls sports in America, but it's not coming from trans people. It turns out that the real threat is the anti-trans movement itself.That, and of course, money. Participation in youth sports in particular is increasingly becoming a privilege afforded only to the wealthy.And the nexus between money and bigotry is harming women and girl's sports far more than the participation of a small number of people in a heavily discriminated group ever could...Transphobes like Riley Gaines act as if they are protecting women, but they are actually putting a target on the back of elite women athletes - as demonstrated by her recent fight with Simone Biles.And the arguments from these anti-trans activists really fall apart when they decry the participation of trans women in a game like pool (that offers them no perceivable advantage) and continue to rail against a trans girl (AB Hernandez) even after a California rule change ensured that no cis girls would lose their spot on the podium. And their hypocrisy is made even more clear when they are nowhere to be found when a 16 year old Black girl named Clara Adams is stripped of her title for her victory celebration.Transphobia and Misogyny are inextricably linked, and this agenda, heavily funded and expertly enacted by far right groups has made it's way all the way up to President Trump. And the agenda is clear - they want to police women - and send our nation back to the 1950s.(http://www.patreon.com/talkingpoliticswithmom)

My mom loved sports growing up, in fact we was very good at them. But there were very few opportunities for elite women's athletes when she grew up. She spent a good portion of her life trying to help create a world that would create more opportunities for women in sports. So when the trans athletes in women's sports debate popped up - she came to that issue with a lot of strong emotions stemming from her past that influenced her opinion on the controversy.But she decided that she would try to move beyond her initial reaction and get to the bottom of the issue... and what she discovered is that the same people that restricted her opportunities when she was younger - are the same people doing it to trans people today... and they wont stop there.Either everybody matters, or nobody matters.( www.patreon.com/talkingpoliticswithmom)

My mom recalls her memories of the 1950s - a complicated era filled with contradictions. It was a time of immense American prosperity in the wake of worldwide devastation following World War 2. It was a time when the government invested in the American people... well SOME of the people. Because the 1950s was also a time with a regimented social and economic hierarchy - particularly when it came to the role of women in society - and the racial caste system. Trump and his MAGA movement was the hierarchy back... while ignoring the tax rate, the government spending, and union membership that made the 1950s possible. But maybe we were, in fact, onto something in the 50s. Maybe there is something to learn from this era, and worth going back to... just this time... we invest in everyone...

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Will and Mom discuss how the far-right stoked the fear of a communist takeover of America in the 1950s and 1960s to support their largely unpopular agenda of economic and imperialist policies designed to benefit the ultra-rich and large corporations. Stoking fear to benefit the wealthy... hmmm, that sounds familiar... Will and Mom also discuss how both political parties have screwed over the American worker, creating an opening for right-wing politicians and the wealthy to gain power. And Mom reflects on some of the advantages that she has gained as a result of the system of White Supremacy in America. Maybe the unequal outcomes we see today in our society have something to do with the unequal opportunities afforded to groups in the past? I mean yes, they do. And it's also like... maybe what has happened in the past can give us some clarity for our current predicament...? That predicament, of course, being - An illiberal fascist demagogue trying to become President... again!

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In the debut episode of Talking Politics With Mom - Some More News Director, Will Gordh (a progressive millennial) talks to his mom (a formerly conservative boomer) about what drew her to right-wing ideology when she was younger, and why she ultimately decided to abandon that philosophy - which includes a level of personal and intellectual commitment that is truly rare. Spoiler Alert: She took a job in the New York City welfare department... Follow Will Gordh on Twitter: https://x.com/will_gordh

In the very first episode of this show - we examined the source of my mom's conservative ideology - which largely came from red-scare propaganda about how secret communists were plotting to destroy America... But it was clear in that discussion that my mom had also internalized many of the lies sold to her about race.Since that first episode - my mom has reflected on those beliefs, and she has asked herself some difficult questions about why she held onto those beliefs for as long as she did.The truth is that racial prejudice, bigotry, and racism - whatever you want to call it - particularly among individuals, is more complex than we sometimes acknowledge. As a nation, we adopt a certain set of values and ideals that are hard to shake... particularly around the meritocracy. And we are also denied the uncomfortable reality of our history of discrimination, coupled with the denial of the important role of government action on advantaging certain groups, while denying opportunity for others.But ultimately - my mom changed her perspective - and this video explores that transformation.( www.patreon.com/talkingpoliticswithmom)

Polls show that most people believe that DEI programs benefit Black people the most. But the truth is that DEI programs are designed to provide opportunities for a wide array of under-served communities. And it turns out that those under-served communities actually include a whole lot of White people - including our new Vice President: JD Vance.

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The concept of DEI (Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion) has become an all-purpose scapegoat for Republicans in recent years - responsible for everything from the LA fires to the recent plane crash in Washington DC. In this episode, Mom and I discuss the origins of how this concept became the default reactionary bugaboo, and how it is designed to distract from Trump's effort to dismantle the administrative state to support his inner circle of billionaire buddies like Elon Musk. DEIA (they like to forget about the A) is a pretense to allow them to plunder the federal government. And none of this will benefit the American people.The Right-Wing frames the issue of DEI around the idea of "The Meritocracy" while they place the least qualified people imaginable into positions of power. To Trump - Merit is defined by loyalty to Trump...

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In 2008, 62% of young men under 30 voted for Obama. In 2024, over 50% of them voted for Trump. What the hell is going on?Part of the answer might be the influence of something called "The Manosphere" a media ecosystem that includes and caters to incels, pick-up artists, men's rights activists, and others who believe that feminism is the primary cause of all of our problems.But if you're like my mom, you may have never even heard of this before. So I am going to "educate" my mom about what it means to take the red pill and see what she makes of it all.

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Donald Trump ran his 2024 Presidential Campaign, essentially, on a single issue: Immigration. He said that "illegal immigrants" were bringing crime, taking your jobs, and poisoning the blood of the nation. And the Democrats did not have an effective counter-narrative. Now, with the right-wing civil war about immigration taking place between the tech billionaires like Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy and the MAGA base about the issue of H1B visas - it's time for the left to offer an effective and affirmative counter-narrative about immigration. Will and Mom have a wide-ranging discussion aimed at getting to the truth of immigration in America. First, mom recounts the story of her ancestors who came to America from Ireland and Italy - and the struggles, exploitation, and discrimination they faced. Mom tells a story about the discrimination that Italian immigrants faced in New Orleans in the late 1800s - that is eerily similar to the latest lie that Donald Trump told about the assailant in the recent New Orleans attack. They discuss the desperate desire for immigrants to become American, and how the demonization of "Hyphenated-Americans" deployed by Woodrow Wilson can give us some insight into the rise in the Latino vote for Trump. Mom talks about the precursors to the latest round of immigrant demonization - like Proposition 187 in California. They also take a look at the actual facts about immigration over the past several decades - and talk about some little-discussed aspects of Trump's utter failure during his previous administration. And also how a large percentage of undocumented workers, have simply overstayed their visas... Finally - Will and Mom reflect on Trump's threat of mass deportation - and how it would not only destroy our economy - but tear this country apart. The vast majority of Americans come from immigrants. When you see those people at the border - you need to see the origin story of your own family. And through it all - we expose the grift at the heart of it all. The Rich have lied about immigration for over 100 years - and they do it to distract from the fact that THEY are the ones holding all of us down for their own profit. They want you to blame immigrants - when really - we should all be blaming them. Please consider supporting (https://www.chirla.org/) if you want to help.

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